Over the past two decades or so, as the desire to utilize solar energy as a viable source of power has grown, a great many solar energy concentrator systems have been developed. The design of these systems range from the relatively simple, such as a flat-plate collector array which tracks the path of the sun, to the considerably more complex. Indeed, the advent of the bifacial photovoltaic cell (or systems which place single-sided cells back-to-back) has led to an even greater variety of concentrator systems that attempt to maximize the amount of solar energy which strikes both sides of a collector element simultaneously. Many of the systems which exist today, however, are either wholly inadequate to adapt to a two-sided collector element, or have proven to be so complex that they necessarily carry high initial costs and substantial maintenance expenses.
The first category of related prior art includes flat plate collector element systems which remain perpendicular to the sun's angle of incidence through the use of tracking systems. Indeed, there are a number of widely-accepted tracking systems now employed by this industry since they have proven to be quite reliable and efficient in their operation. However, the flat-plate collector designs have their drawbacks in that only one side of a collector element may receive incident solar radiation at a time. Accordingly, these systems would be clearly inadequate with regard to the efficient operation of bifacial photovoltaic cells.
Other prior art designs in this industry include those which employ curved reflector surfaces. While such a design may improve the efficiency with which both sides of a bifacial photovoltaic cell receive incident solar radiation, it inevitably requires a much higher manufacturing cost as well.
Additional designs which have been disclosed include those which employ multiple, relatively large reflector surfaces for each individual collector element. Other systems incorporate an additional transmissive material adjacent the collector element for optional internal refraction. Still others require a complex array of pyramidal reflecting surfaces to surround a collector element and precisely focus the incident solar radiation. All of these systems, however, are fairly complex designs which carry substantial manufacturing costs as well as significant installation/replacement costs.
What is needed in this field of art is a relatively simple, lightweight, yet rigid solar energy concentrator apparatus which maximizes the amount of solar radiation received by both sides of a bifacial photovoltaic cell or the collector elements of two single-sided cells placed back-to-back.